Love's Complicated
by ilessthan3youtoo
Summary: Katniss Evergreen has just won the Hunger Games. Little does she know a whole new kind of competition is starting.
1. Chapter 1

"How does it feel to be the winner of The Hunger Games?"

"What do you plan on doing now?"

"How would you label your relationship with Peeta?"

All these questions and more were being thrown at me as I stepped out to meet the reporters, but these were the ones that stuck in my mind. I contemplated my success; being the first to outsmart the capitol in order to bring home two contestants…It wasn't easy. Neither were the questions.

"How does it feel to be the winner of the Hunger Games? It feels like the biggest accomplishment in the world." I smiled girlishly as I answered the question with a lie. It sucked to even be involved in the Hunger Games. The whole institution made me sick to my stomach. But I couldn't say that, now could I?

"As for what I plan to do now…I'm not quite sure. I'd like to help out in some of the districts that aren't doing so well financially, as well as reconnecting with my friends and family." That was true enough, I supposed.

Then came the last question. I sighed. This was going to be tricky. I out on a fake smile and tried to sound like I was in love. "Well…I think we all know about my relationship with Peeta. It's-"

"Never been better," Peeta declared, coming up behind me. I twirled in his arms and he kissed my nose. Only I could see the apology in his eyes. He knew I had mixed emotions, but we had to keep up the romance for the cameras.

The crowd cheered and I prepared myself for the next round of questions. Fortunately, Haymitch chose this moment to break in. "Sorry, folks, but we have to get these kids in for a quick break before we head back to district twelve."

The crowd was a bit disappointed, but there was nothing they could do. We headed out and made for our rooms.

"So," Peeta whispered in my ear, "Are we still being watched?"

"It's possible."

"Well, in that case…" And he took my hand. He was probably just looking for an excuse to do it. My feelings for him were confused, but he made his perfectly clear.

A few hours later, we arrived back at district twelve…

Into a huge mass of people who cheers were louder than any I'd heard in the capitol. I waved at the crowd, blew a few kisses, and acted the celebrity. But my eyes never stopped scanning the crowd, looking for them. Some people call them Prim, my mother, and Gale. To me, they're the most important people I have. Wait, no. Peeta. But, I didn't like Peeta. I liked Gale.

I liked Gale? Well, it made sense…As far as sense goes. We were best friends, but there was a sense of something lying underneath, now that I think about it. But thinking about it made my head hurt, so I focused on something else.

All of the sudden, with a rush, Prim came barreling toward me, and I swept her up in a hug like none other. I had barely placed her back on the ground when Gale swept me off my feet, literally.

I was swept up into his arms in a bone crushing hug. "I missed you so much," he breathed in my ear. "I was worried sick the entire time you were gone." Then he got serious, pulling away to look at my face.

I looked over my shoulder at the crowd. Peeta, bless his soul, was distracting them for me.

I looked back to Gale. "What is it?"

He glanced at Peeta. "Are you… and him…you know…really…together?"

I bit my lip. Leave it to him to ruin a moment. Especially with a question I'd never be able to answer that. "I…Don't really know."

Gale turned his head away. "You looked like you knew on camera."

"_I don't have much competition here," Peeta said with a sour look on his face. _

"_You don't have much competition anywhere." _

Ugh. I knew saying that would make the capitol happy, but I'd neglected thinking of how Gale would react. Of course, I didn't know we were that kind of friends.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist from behind. "The crowds want us. Apparently some Capitols are here, _darling." _

Did I imagine the emphasis? Was he trying to be sarcastic? Apologetic? Or was he maybe trying to rub it in Gale's face?

No, that was ridiculous. I gave Gale's hand one last squeeze before heading back to face the crowds and more reporters.

"I'm sorry to tear you away from your boyfriend, but we've- you've, I mean- got to play along with this for a bit longer."

Peeta's words cut me a bit, though I wasn't sure why. But there were a few false statements there that bugged me. "Gale isn't my boyfriend. And…Who say's I'm just playing along?"

There. I said it. Did I mean it? A little. I liked Peeta. _Really liked_ Peeta. He should know that he had a chance in this game, this game that may prove more deadly then the one he'd already won.

Peeta's eyebrows were raised in surprise. I just slipped my hand into his and laid my head on his shoulder. A bit for the Capitol's cameras. Ok and a bit for me.

Soon, the cameras finished flashing; Peeta and I were presented with the house we'd both live in (and three other people each of our choosing.) It was a big house though, with servants, so we didn't mind.

Peeta and I sat alone at our new house. It made me feel like we were married. I brushed that thought aside. "So, who are you going to choose to stay here?"

He thought. "My father…my mother's apparently died. Food poisoning."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Not really, but it was the best thing to say.

"Don't be. She was a hag to the very end."

"Oh." Awkward…

"Who are you going to bring?"

"My mother…Prim…" Dare I say Gale? He probably wouldn't agree to it, with all his little siblings to care for. Turns out I didn't have to articulate this.

"And you want to say Gale, too, but you're worried about me and him in a house together…With you."

"Oh, Peeta." I swear the way he said it made my heart break in two. One side was the Peeta side… The other, of course, belonged to Gale. I moved to sit next to him, snuggling my face into his side. "I'm sorry, Peeta. I wish I could just tell you what I'm feeling. But I don't quite know what that is. I do love you…I just don't know who else I may or may not love." Delicately put, much?

But it worked. Peeta's eyes softened, and he held me. "It's ok, Katniss. It's ok."

It was funny. We'd just won The Hunger Games. But now he was playing in a different game, one that took more skill and luck to come out on top.

And it looked like I was the grand prize.*

**Author's note: **I don't own the hunger games, or any of its characters. Please review/subscribe. Jesus loves you:D

*Not said to objectify women. Meant to represent that Gale and Peeta were both trying to get her to fall for them (respectively).


	2. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**** Yeah, this has been on hiatus for awhile... Hope you like this chapter. I may or may not update this regularly (if you hadn't noticed...) I don't own the Hunger Games trilogy. Or any of it's wonderful characters. However, this story is mine. **

"Gale?" I whispered. "Are you there?" I was approaching our meeting spot in the woods behind District 12. Even though I now had more money and food than starving families in my district could go though in a year, Gale and I still took time to go hunting. I felt like I owed it to him- much of my time had to be taken up with interviews, photo shoots... and Peeta.

I arrived at our meeting place. Gale was no where in sight. Either he'd already gone on or hadn't gotten here yet. I settled in a few minutes to wait. Leaning back against a tree trunk, I looked up at the sky to think things over. A movement in the branches above caught my eye, and I cocked my bow. Unfortunately, whatever it was had vanished. I relaxed again.

I'm not sure when I started to drift into a sleep, but I realized when I started to dream...

"_Peeta?" I called. Then I realized how dangerous that was. I was back in the arena- and now everyone knew where in the arena I was located. So I ran. Ran and ran until I bumped into-_

"_Gale?" I shouted. "What are _you_ doing here?" _

"_There's no time to explain," he said urgently. "Come on, hurry!"_

_So I ran again, but this time with Gale. We passed many familiar sights: the lake, the forest, the river where I'd found Peeta... Wait. _

_I stopped running. "Where's Peeta?" I asked Gale._

_He stopped running, too."We don't have time to worry about him right now, Katniss. He's okay" He looked at me from the side... something he only did when he was lying. _

"_I don't believe you!" I yelled. I turned away from him only to see what we'd been running from- the mutts. With the eyes... Oh, no. _

_Peeta. On the ground, between where Gale and I stood and the mutts."Katniss! Help!" He cried. _

_Gale pulled on my arm. "It's too late to save him, Katniss. We have to run!" I stood, stock still, completely torn, living out the one nightmare that could be worse than the Hunger Games. _

_The wolves were almost at Peeta. When I looked back at Gale, he was covered in Tracker Jacker stings, his face and body becoming stiff. "Help, Katniss!" they both cried out. I stood looking back and forth between the two until..._

"NO!" I screamed, sitting up bolt right, surely scaring off any prospective game, though apparently I scared something else, too.

Gale fell out of nowhere with an "Umph!" I looked up and saw the branches shaking. Oh.

"Gale? What on earth were you doing up there?" I asked in startled amazement.

He shrugged. "Just chillin.'"

"Why didn't you wake me up? Or say something when I got here for that matter."

He looked at me_ from the corner of his eye. _"I didn't notice you were here until you yelled."

"Uh huh." Like I believed him. I'd even called his name, albeit quietly.

Gale took this opportunity to make an obvious subject change. "So why'd you yell?"

"I was having a nightmare." I shrugged; the last thing I wanted was to go into detail.

"What was it about?"

"I don't really remember. C'mon. Let's just go see what we can get." Though he nodded, I knew it was equally obvious as when he lied. I knew his eyes were on me from behind as we tiptoed carefully through the woods.

After three hours, we still had nothing. Neither of us was really in it. "You ready to head back?" Gale asked.

I nodded. "Yeah... Not much game today."

The ten minute walk back to the fence was a silent as a cemetery. We slipped under the fence (of course the electricity was off) and back into town. Here was the awkward part.

Gale began. "Well... I guess I'll just go... Tell Peeta I said hey."

I wondered if 'hey' was code for 'if you make a move on Katniss I'll cut your eyes out', but I didn't ask.

"Okay. Tell your family I said hello."

Gale held out his arms and I awkwardly leaned into them. Before the games, a hug wouldn't have been awkward. But now the duo had become a triangle... And three's a crowd.

We parted and I began the lonely walk toward Victors' Village. Well, it would've been lonely, but fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I ran into Haymitch.

"Hey, Kat." He greeted me.

"Hello, Haymitch."

"Hunting with Gale again?" He grinned as he said it, as if it were some kind of inside joke.

"Yes. Hunting. For animals. Killing." I tried to make it sound as unromantic as possible.

"Killing..." Haymitch mused. "Yeah, I reckon you're good at that." Ouch.

"Haymitch, that was below the belt."

"I know. You know what else is below the belt?"

"For you? Nothing."

"Playing with emotions." He looked at me soberly (for once). "You know you're breaking poor Peeta's heart. And Gale's too, I imagine, but I don't really care about that." Couldn't argue; Haymitch was definitely Team Peeta.

"You know me, hot and wanted."

"Not really."

I sighed. "I know, Haymitch."

"I'm just saying," he looked me straight in the eyes. "You better be careful. The games don't all end with the arena." With that, he walked off.

I pondered his words 'The games don't all end in the arena.' He didn't know how right he was.

I kept walking until I finally reached my house. All I wanted was a nice, hot bath and some chocolate.

Unfortunately, going home wouldn't solve my problem this time.


End file.
